Vanilla 0.9.3 - Better theming support?

Jazzman

I've been really pleased with the Vanilla Framework and Mark has done a wonderful job! The only thing I still had some troubles with, was the theme support. Using html in php still messes up the beautyness of the application. I've found a way to still use the original theme-structure, but seperate the templates from the php code.

First, I've created the following directory structure in my themes directory:



Next, I copied all the theme php-files from the theme-directory to the subdirectory (scum in this case).

I use MiniTemplator to seperate code and templates. I've transformed the original class to a Vanilla one: Framework.Class.MiniTemplator.php. And put it in the library/Framework directory.

My theming now has neater code, and clean templates:

(Example of the discussion grid)


discussions.php


templates/DiscussionGrid.html

Jazzman

BTW! It also looks nicer when you check the HTML source


Vanilla source


Source with MiniTemplator class

Bergamot

I seem to recall Mark trying something like this, and not liking it for some reason. I'll attempt to locate that thread. EDIT: http://lussumo.com/community/discussion/1043/#Item_31 Apparently, this way was "simpler". You were in that thread too, pimping Savant.

Mark

that sort of search/replace stuff is really great, no doubt. But it will absolutely slow the application down, and I can't afford to let that happen - esp considering that it is already built on php classes - which are slower than traditional spagetti php code.

It may not be "simpler" for theme authors to program, but it is definitely "simpler" for php to parse.

Mark

And regardless, progress has already been made on theming in the most recent version of svn - but it's just not ready yet. At the very least I've allowed you to specify piecemeal files for themeing instead of requiring every single template file.

Jazzman

Yes Mark, I agree, it will be "slower"... but don't we all have NASA and Pentagon computers these days? But seriously... I don't know how it would go on a 1.000.000 user/discussion site.... it works well for my setup and it's just a bit more manageble ^^

Bergamot

Well, since 1.0 will support multiple themes, I see no problem with the official theme staying as-is (for the performance hungry) and another theme taking a slower, yet cleaner, route.